Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Yeah, this Oil Burner Emergency Switch must have gotten switched to Off some time during the summer. Since we have gas heat, I've never paid attention to that switch. I just figured it was an old switch left from an old oil burner that had been taken out before our gas furnace was put in.

One flick of the switch, and we have heat again. Okay,so the repair man must think we're idiots. But at least we don't have a huge repair bill to pay!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The weather has gotten really cold here in the past couple of weeks. And as an added bonus, our furnace seems to have decided it's not quite ready to come back to work for the winter. So it's been very icy in the house, and I think that's the reason the cold that followed me home from Rhinebeck stayed all week and sapped my energy.

The plus side to a cold house is that it's the perfect excuse to layer on the hand-knits. And speaking of hand-knits, I still haven't shared the final pictures of my February Lady Sweater. Actually, the On Location Rhinebeck Shots are pretty horrendous, so let's just start with the stats.

What? You still want to see the pictures? Well, okay - but don't laugh too hard at the funny faces I'm making. The first shot I like to call "Funny Smile".

The second one was a pose that clearly didn't work for me, causing me to call this picture "Looking Fat".

And last, we have "Clearly Not Ready".

Not sure what I was looking at, but maybe I had spied some pretty yarn nearby!! I do remember being nervous because I wasn't quite sure I was supposed to be standing so close to the landscaping. Don't worry, I was careful not to trod on the plants.

Only one more day until Mr. Furnace Repairman comes to bring us heat again. Until then, it's me and my knits!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Nope, I know it's not true. Sure, I'm on the couch suffering from a cold - but it can't be from Rhinebeck, can it? Ah well, even if my cold was caused by Fiber Overload, it was worth it! Here's a quick rendition of my day, in pictures.

The ride up is always nice, with little traffic and wonderful scenery.

Okay, maybe Pea looks like he was dreading the day!!

First stop (after a frantic run to the Ladies Room after drinking a large coffee on the way up) was The Fold booth, and it's wall of Socks That Rock!!

We saw this little bunny. He was so cute I was tempted to bring him home with us.

The rest of the afternoon? Yarn, yarn . . .

. . . and more yarn.

And some wine tasting for Sweetpea. You don't think he goes to Rhinebeck for the yarn, do you?

And now, I'm stuck on the couch with a stuffy head, a sore throat, and plenty of aches. So does yarn and fiber cause colds? Maybe it does. But I don't mind. I simply take a look at the skeins that followed me home . . .

and I know I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!!

What other knitters did I bump into in my travels? Details on my February Lady Sweater? More about all the yarn I bought? Let's save that for next time - after I've had more chicken soup and rest.

Lucky for me, my second batch of buttons for Feb. Lady arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Lucky for me again, they match much better than the first set did.

Yeah, that's more like it. A few quick stitches on my new buttons and M'Lady and I will be all set for Saturday. I'll be one of the bazillion knitters at Rhinebeck in a hot-off-the-needles February Lady Sweater!

And yes, I took that picture in the back yard. I used to worry what the neighbors would think about the girl hauling yarn out for pictures. But we've seen our neighbor, more than once, in his yard wearing nothing more than tighty whities. He always apologizes, but it doesn't seem to stop him. And the sad thing is, that isn't even the neighbor who we call The Weird Neighbor. So yeah, yarn and hand-knits on the grass are looking like the least of our neighborhood worries!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The past week has been filled with a WIP of a different kind. Remember that bathroom re-do we started over a year ago? Like many of my knitting WIPs, we kind of lost the love on this project and put it into Hibernation. But last week, Pea took some days off and we dove in on this UFO. Forces were working against us. Five days of rain and humidity made the primer and each coat of paint take at least 7 hours to dry. (We used that time to visit with some family that was down from Maine). So it's not quite a FO yet, but at least we're getting somewhere.

The walls are progressing . . .

there has been lots of patching and painting . . .

and the new vanity and sink are finally in, along with a bead-board backsplash to replace those ugly tiles!!

Obviously, we still have a lot of work left. None of the trim has been painted. Neither has the outside of the claw-foot tub. The new light and medicine cabinet have not been installed. All the little bath accessories still need to be purchased and put in. And a new curtain needs to be made. I'm hoping we can get this accomplished over the next few weekends.

Of course, progress on this WIP has been made at the sacrifice of many other things! I'm behind on my on-line class. I haven't been posting to my blogs. I have barely been commenting or e-mailing people. I have mounds of dirty laundry waiting and I can remember the last time I cooked a good meal instead of ordering take-out. And knitting progress has been going SLOW. So if I'm a little scarce for the next week or so, it's just because I'm trying to get life back on track. Those big WIPs sure have a way of taking over!!